


As The World Caves In

by Purpleaesthetic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Major Character Injury, POV Third Person, Pre-Relationship, Slight Canon Divergence, Songfic, The Last Agni Kai (Avatar), song: as the world caves in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 09:00:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30137139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpleaesthetic/pseuds/Purpleaesthetic
Summary: And here it is, our final night aliveAnd as the earth runs to the groundOh girl it's you that I lie withORAn out of order telling of the events of The Last Agni Kai told to the sound of As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	As The World Caves In

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to Zutara angst hour, now featuring that one song I heard on Tik Tok that now makes me cry. Anyway, fully recommend you listen to the song as you read, it makes it hit different, and thank you for reading!

_My feet are aching_

_And your back is pretty tired_

Katara feels his stare as she stares at the darkening sky. Red spills across the sky like blood as anxiety grips her heart. _Aang will win, he has to._ Suddenly, she feels a weight on her hand, and she looks over. Zuko’s eyes are trained on the horizon in front of them as his hand grips her own. _We can win, I know it._ His hand squeezes hers, a moment of comfort and reassurance. _We will_. She squeezes his hand back. 

_And we've drunk a couple bottles babe_

_And set our grief aside_

They can see the palace in the distance, and Katara sees how tense he gets, and she wonders how honest he was being when he said that he wasn’t worried. She feels the need to say something, _anything_ , to let him know that they were going to be okay, that she had complete faith in him. Some form of comfort to get him to breathe. “Your mother would be proud of you, regardless of what happens.” The words tumble out of her as easy as breathing because they're the truth. He’s grown so much over the short time she has known him, and she knows that he is a good person, deep in his core. No matter what happened in the past. 

She thinks she said the right thing as she watches his posture relax slightly. He smiles at her softly, some fear still burning in the flames behind his eyes. “Yours too.” She reflects his smile and his fear back to him.

_The Papers say it's doomsday_

_The button has been pressed_

The comet is bright and all-consuming, and based on the way he straightens, it's powerful too. It lights up the sky, and yet somehow it covers her like a shadow. Zuko probably feels the same way she feels under a full moon, strong and powerful, but also a little scared, for others as well as yourself. Even though it seems impossible, Zuko’s body temperature gets even higher. He normally feels like a human furnace, but now he feels like an inferno, a deep and blazing fire. She leans into his heat.

_We're gonna nuke each other up boys_

_'Til old satan stands impressed_

Zuko and Azula stand up from where they kneeled on opposite sides of the courtyard, stances ready and aggressive, ready to destroy each other. Zuko gulps as his hands go up, wishing things had ended differently. Wishing he didn’t have to fight his sister. Azula throws the first blast of blue flames his way.

_And here it is, our final night alive_

_And as the earth runs to the ground_

Fear grips Katara’s heart as she watches them battle, the air blazing as their flames tower over the buildings. _He’ll win, he just has to._ She has complete faith in him, she just wishes she could do something, something to help. She remembers fighting back to back with him as they trained, cutting through dummies made of rocks and watermelons. She wishes she could be there for him more.

_Oh girl it's you that I lie with_

_As the atom bomb locks in_

When uncle tells him that he can’t face Azula alone, he doesn’t feel a sting of an insult like he thought he would, because he knows it's true. He faced Azula before, and it didn’t end well. He glances at his friends as they sit around him, and his eyes fall on Katara. She’s staring down at the bowl of soup in her hands, a pensive look painted across her eyes, bright blue eyes lost in thought. She smirks at him as he extends a hand, asking for her help, asking for her to stand by his side, no matter what. “It would be my pleasure,” She says and Zuko smiles back at her. _There’s no one I’d rather face the end of the word with_ , he thinks to himself.

_Oh it's you I watch TV with_

_As the world, as the world caves in_

Katara stands behind him as he confronts his sister, ready to back him in, only to be shocked as he agrees to an Agni Kai. To face his sister alone. She tries to protest, to get him to let her help him, but she sees that look of determination on his face, and she knows he won’t budge. He’s doing this, at least partially to protect her, and she knows she can’t stop him.

_You put your final suit on_

_I paint my fingernails_

Appa slowly lifts off the ground as Zuko thinks of the last time they were alone like this. When they left together to avenge her mother. He remembers how determined she looked, dressed in all black and a fierce glare. She has that same look she had on that night, the night that she finally learned to trust him, and he thinks about how he made the right choice.

_Oh we're going out in style babe_

_And everything's on sale_

Katara wraps her arms around him as they prepare for the Agni Kai, grasp desperate and heavy. She’s scared and Zuko knows it, he is too. His arms find a home around her waist as they hold each other. He feels her hands grip the material of his shirt as she mumbles into his chest, “Just...be careful.” 

_We creep up on extinction_

_I pull your arms right in_

She doesn’t think she’s ever run so fast in her entire life, but she needs to save him, she _needs to_. She holds his writhing body, limbs twinged with electricity and pain. Turning him so he’s lying on his back, she cradles his head and places her hand on his chest, over the blossoming scar on his chest, jagged and sharp like the lightning he took for her.

_I weep and say goodnight love_

_While my organs pack it in_

Pain rushes through his body, and he feels like he’s on fire, and he knows what that feels like. He tries, he tries so hard. He sees Katara run toward him and he gathers all of his strength to reach out for her, only to watch her get blown away by his sister’s lightning, the strike missing her by mere inches. He attempts to get up, tries to get up and _help her_ , but the pain is too much. His limbs refuse to listen, and all he can do is watch as his sister tries to kill his...Katara. All he can do is watch and lay there, holding his chest in pain. 

_And here it is, our final night alive_

_And as the earth runs to the ground_

She watches through teary eyes as he stops tensing, as the expression of pain that contorts his face slowly lessens. “Thank you, Katara,” He weakly groans out, and she can’t help the tears that slip down her cheeks. “I think I’m the one who should be thanking you,” She replies, relieved beyond belief. She had this moment of doubt, this moment of fear, that he wouldn’t wake up. That she wasn’t quick enough, wasn’t good enough, that she couldn’t heal him, not unlike what happened with Aang.

He reaches up, hand slow and shaky, and caresses her cheek, thumb whipping away her flowing tears. She leans into his hand, closing her eyes, letting herself feel the comfort of his hand, before realizing that she wants more, more of him. Without thinking, she holds him. Her arms cradle him as he leans into her touch, and he can feel him sigh as he melts in her grasp. She’s so glad she can feel him, feel his heartbeat and his heat, physical and undeniable proof that he is okay. She misses the closeness as she helps him up.

_Oh girl it's you that I lie with_

_As the atom bomb locks in_

He feels the burn of the lightning strike slowly dull to almost numb steering. He can’t help but feel better as he feels her hands on his chest, the washing calm of cool water, and careful hands. The world slowly comes into focus again, and all he can see is her. “Thank you, Katara,” His voice is foreign as he groans out the words, but he needs her to know. “I think I’m the one who should be thanking you,” She smiles through the tears, and he feels a part of him ache, not in pain from the strike, but for her.

He can’t bring himself to care about the pain, he just reaches up, brushing away her tears. He relishes in the feeling of her leaning into his hand, but nothing can compare to the feeling he gets when she wraps her arms around him. Physical and undeniable proof that she’s okay, that she’s here and Azula wasn’t able to take her away from him. He lets her cradle him, loving the feeling of her touch, and the comfort he gets from it, he feels his pain lessen even more. He misses her touch as she helps him up.

_Oh it's you I watch TV with_

_As the world, as the world caves_

It all happens so fast. Azula is generating lightning, and Zuko is preparing to redirect it. Then the world shifts. She watches in horror as her hand shifts and is pointed at _her_. She can’t move, shock and fear rooting her in place, but Zuko isn’t. He moves impossibly fast, and suddenly he’s in front of her, taking the bolt mid-air. He thuds to the ground, lighting, and pain crackling around him, and she runs for him, only to be blocked. _No, I have to reach him!_ She reaches for him again, only to narrowly miss getting struck by lightning. Azula won’t let her get to him. _No, not him._

_Oh it's you that I lie with_

_As the atom bomb locks in_

Fire nation healers carry Zuko away, careful with the new Fire Lord, who is still in tremendous pain. Katara refuses to leave his side, running with them the entire way to the hospital wing of the palace. She doesn’t let go of his hand the entire time, needing the reminder that he is okay.

_Yes it's you I welcome death with_

_As the world, as the world caves in_

He’s ready. He knows that when he redirects Azula's lightning the Agni Kai will be over. He remembers what Iroh taught him, he remembers that day with his father. He’s ready, he can do this. But then Azula’s eyes shift, and his heart drops. _No, not her_. Before he can think, before he can breathe, before Azula even sends the lightning toward Katara, he's already running. As he jumps, he knows he could die from this, he has no solid ground, and he’s sideways and in midair. As the lighting sets his insides on fire before dispersing into the reddening sky, he doesn’t regret his choice.

_As the world caves in_

They stand in the half-destroyed courtyard, fires burning, the ground soaked and lightning scorched, watching Azula. The comet trails above them, loud and bright, setting the sky and clouds on fire as it goes. They don’t know if Aang ever came back, or if he won. They don’t know where Toph, Suki, and Sokka are, but after everything that just happened, they don’t know what else to do. So Katara looks at Zuko as he clutches his stomach, letting his presence anchor her to the stone of the courtyard. Zuko focuses on Katara, on her comforting hand on the small of his back, on her slow and hollow breaths, on the fact that she is there, she is with him. Because if the world ends, it all going up in a fiery blaze started by his father, at least they weren't alone. If they had nothing else, they had each other.


End file.
